seems. Mr Smyth's contribution to the debate is: "Why shouldn't we have it out in the open? Then everybody will know." The reason we do not have it in the open is that we do not want headlines like "Class we failed". Mr Smyth said that it is okay now; they have fixed it as a result. What about the souls who were tortured as a result of this? Perhaps you were not here earlier, so I will read this again.

Sarah Chalmers, 17, who has just completed her HSC at Mt Druitt High says she got a bit weepy when she showed up to her part-time job yesterday and other young staff teased her by chanting "failure".

Why wouldn't you get a bit teary? That is the sort of thing we are trying to stop. You do not seem to understand the gravity of what the government is attempting.

The motion is quite okay; it deals with all the issues. I do not need to go on and make the case again and again. It has been made over and over. I thank those members who have declared their support for this motion. I know that, if the Assembly carries it through, we will have a better education system as a result, one that is less open to the dangerous outcomes there will be if we proceed down the path the government has set itself. Thank you, members, for supporting this motion.

(1) this Assembly calls on the Government to conduct an independent comparative analysis between increased expenditure on (a) student transport; and (b) educational programs, in:

(i) achieving educational outcomes for students from all socioeconomic groups;

(ii) ensuring the viability of Canberra's local school system; and

(iii) targeting disadvantaged students;

(2) the analysis be informed by consultation with stakeholders in the education system and the expertise of relevant Government departments;

(3) the analysis be completed and the report be tabled in the Assembly by 23 August 2001.

Members, this motion is about the budget initiative of the government to spend $27 million on free school buses. Basically, what we know from this government's processes is that this is a first glance budget, and it is a first glance government. At first glance free school bus travel for all students may look good to a lot of Canberra people, like at first glance information comparing students across the system may look useful, but once you actually look at the issues you realise it is a very unwise public policy.